[LINK] Terms and Conditions (was: Newspapers online)

[Ivan Trundle]

I almost fell off my chair laughing: if the rumour that Murdoch has never used the internet is true, this accounts for it...

<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tools_and_services/services/terms_and_conditions/article7067597.ece>

Yup: a whole 13 pages of T&C (6,741 words)... The prohibition listing is 3 pages in itself.

Obviously, Times Online readers are expected to be well-educated, and preferably lawyers (and who use a telephone line to download content, according to Section 23 on page 9).

When you actually get around to signing up, all of your data is via a standard http connection (no SSL). The Times site asks for information that is more than is needed to browse a site (home address and country, phone number, DOB).

Insidious postscript: one of the nasty side-effects of signing up to such a website is that your personal details are collected (fabricated or otherwise), as are your total site browsing habits. 

One of the joys of sites with no registration procedure is that the visitor is in control of what information is matched or divulged (IP addresses and cookies notwithstanding). 

...

And in browsing the endless comments about paywalls: here's a beauty... "readers 'should' pay – when did you ever see a business plan built on the verb 'should'?

iT